In recent years, mobile communication devices such as cellular phones have seen a rapid prevalence. There has also been a rapid progress in short-range wireless technology. Against such backgrounds, short-range wireless data communications between at least two mobile communications devices, or between at least one mobile communication device and at least one peripheral device, are becoming more and more popular. An example of short-range wireless technology is Bluetooth (trademark). Bluetooth technology is essentially a short-range wireless data communication technique using low-directivity radiowaves, which enables an ad-hoc wireless connection (via radiowaves) between wireless communication devices within a region with a radius of about 10 m. Since Bluetooth tachnology allows modules to be designed in small sizes and with a small power consumption, Bluetooth technology is finding practical applications in, among others, mobile communication devices, e.g., cellular phones, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), wireless headsets, and peripheral devices thereof.
FIG. 28A, FIG. 28B, and FIG. 28C are schematic diagrams illustrating an initial stage, an intermediate stage, and a final stage of a wireless connection occurring between Bluetooth-compliant wireless communication devices. FIG. 28A to FIG. 28C illustrate three wireless communication devices, i.e., a cellular phone 100a, a cellular phone 100b, and a wireless headset 200, each incorporating a Bluetooth interface.
The cellular phones 100a and 100b will now be briefly described. FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b shown in FIG. 28A to FIG. 28C. As shown in FIG. 29, each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b comprises a first antenna 101, a wireless communication section 102, and a response control section 103, as means for enabling short-range wireless data communications. The wireless communication section 102 includes an inquiry reception section 104 and a response transmission section 105. Furthermore, each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b comprises a second antenna 106 and a mobile communication section 107, as means for enabling voice calls.
The wireless headset 200 is structured so as to be capable of short-range wireless data communications. Preferably, the wireless headset 200 is structured so as to be capable of dialing a telephone number to which the cellular phone 100a or 100b should place a call.
FIG. 30 is a sequence chart illustrating the specific process performed by the cellular phone 100a or 100b shown in FIG. 28A to FIG. 28C.
By using FIG. 30, an example will be illustrated where the wireless headset 200 establishes a wireless connection in a Bluetooth-compliant manner. As shown in FIG. 28A and FIG. 30, in the initial stage, a wireless communication section (not shown) of the wireless headset 200 sends out an inquiry to the surrounding cellular phones 100a and 100b for establishing a Bluetooth link.
As shown in FIG. 28B and FIG. 30, in the intermediate stage, each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b sends out to the wireless headset 200 an inquiry response containing a Bluetooth device address (hereinafter referred to as “BD address”) with which to identify itself. At this time, each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b performs the following process. As shown in FIG. 29, in each of the cellular phones 100a and 100b, the inquiry reception section 104 receives via the first antenna 101 the inquiry which has been sent from the wireless headset 200. The inquiry reception section 104 notifies to the response control section 103 that an inquiry has been received. In response to this notification, the response control section 103 generates the aforementioned inquiry response, and instructs the response transmission section 105 to transmit the generated inquiry response. Via the first antenna 101, the response transmission section 105 sends out the inquiry response as instructed by the response control section 103.
As shown in FIG. 28C and FIG. 30, in the final stage, if the wireless headset 200 receives a plurality of inquiry responses, the wireless headset 200 selects, in accordance with the user's operation, one of the cellular phones 100a and 100b from which the inquiry responses have been received. Then, the wireless headset 200 establishes a Bluetooth link, i.e., a wireless connection, with the selected cellular phone 100a or 100b. 
Let us assume that the wireless headset 200 first selects the cellular phone 100b as a destination of connection, and establishes a Bluetooth link therewith. After the link establishment, as shown in FIG. 30, the user dials a number on the wireless headset 200 in order to place a voice call by means of the cellular phone 100b. However, upon finding out that the cellular phone 100b is outside of the range for placing or receiving calls (hereinafter referred as “call range”), i.e., the wireless headset 200 is unable to receive the desired “service” from the current destination, the wireless headset 200 is obliged to select, again in accordance with the user's operation, the other cellular phone 100a from which an inquiry response has been received, and establish a Bluetooth link therewith. Thereafter, in the cellular phone 100a, the mobile communication section 107 exchanges via the second antenna 106 voice data which is necessary for providing a voice call (i.e., the “service”) to the user.
Thus, as more and more wireless communication devices having such a short-range wireless data communication function are present around a user, there emerges a problem in that the user attempting to obtain a wireless connection between wireless communication devices will be required to perform the cumbersome task of selecting a destination, thus finding it difficult to establish a connection between such wireless communication devices. A method for facilitating the designation of a destination in a wireless communication system has been proposed (e.g., US 2002/0045454 A1) in which a BD address is transmitted from a user's desired destination wireless communication device via infrared communications, so that the source wireless communication device can establish a Bluetooth link based on the received device ID.
However, the conventional wireless connection method has a problem in that the user still needs to select a BD address by operating the wireless communication device, or even if a wireless connection has been established, the destination wireless communication device may not be able to provide the desired service, thus wasting a connection process (because the source wireless communication device is not able to receive the desired service). While the connection method disclosed in the above-identified publication ensures that a desired pair of wireless communication devices are connected, it does not guarantee that a wireless communication device which is able to provide a service will always be connected to the source wireless communication device.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication system which ensures that a source wireless communication device will be connected to a wireless communication device which is able to provide a service, while reducing the operational burden on the user.